Hi! I’m here to talk about another advanced reader’s copy I was able to read through NetGalley. **And as always, the work to support the Black community is not done, whether there is media coverage for it or not, so here is the link to click in order to support the Black Lives Matter movement in any way you can, and thank you to StarlahReads for compiling these resources. You can also visit the description of this video by booktuber Jess Owens, which has links to several additional resources about global events.**
At the beginning of the year, I was scrolling through NetGalley’s Read Now titles and came across For the Love of Friends, an adult fiction debut novel by Sara Goodman Confino. I was curious to see what would warrant a “world’s worst bridesmaid” mug that is next to the main character on the cover, and clicked on it to learn more. I thought this was going to be such a fun, entertaining, and relatable story about dealing with the stress of weddings all around you when you, yourself, are very much alone. Unfortunately, it didn’t work all that well for me, and I’ll get to why, but I do still see how others are going to love this book.
Lily Weiss is the director of communications of the Foundation for Scientific Technology, but at thirty-two with no significant other she’s her mother’s worst nightmare. Then all hell breaks loose when she’s asked by five brides to be in their wedding, all taking place within six weeks of each other. After waking up hungover in bed with a groomsmen after an engagement party, Lily knows she needs a place to air out all her wedding frustrations – lo and behold, her anonymous blog Bridesmania is born. She shares every single bit of drama she encounters with her readers, increasing the snark to keep them coming back for more. But even Lily isn’t prepared for the day being anonymous is no longer an option, and she has to face the brides beyond the screen.
So, I wanted to love this book. I really did. The premise sounded absolutely hilarious and relatable, and the added blog element had me even more intrigued. But unfortunately, in my opinion it sure fell short of my expectations. A lot of it is personal taste, so I’ll definitely touch on that so you can see where I’m coming from and decide how much faith you want to put into my word. But let’s start out by discussing the positives. I really loved Alex as a character, and enjoyed watching his friendship with Lily progress throughout the story. He’s had a bad past with relationships, coming out of a toxic marriage with an ex-wife who was controlling and manipulative. He’s always there with a joke or snark to cheer Lily up when she’s stressed with all the wedding drama, and even offers to be her fake date so people will stop asking when she’s getting married. He also cares deeply for his dad, who suffers a heart attack and is rushed to the hospital, and there’s a moment when he’s vulnerable and expresses to Lily how he’s never thought about how his parents won’t always be alive, and be with him. Alex was definitely the shining star of this novel for me, and while I didn’t understand his motivation towards the end of the novel, I was still rooting for him. I also found the blog aspect to be a pretty fun addition, and can understand Lily’s motivations for starting it – she wants to air out her frustrations with the weddings, sure, but she also loves writing [things other than scientific press releases for work] and she needs money to help pay for all her expenses. Do I believe that it would actually be possible for her to earn as much money as she suggests in the allotted time frame with a blog just starting out? No, not really, but I still thought her blog entries were entertaining.
Ok, well, that’s about as positive as I can get, so I’ll just get right into my issues. The first had to do with a stylistic choice – there are various moments when Lily is conversing with other characters through text message, and the author does not differentiate what is said through text, who is talking, and what is narration and/or Lily’s internal monologue. It made it difficult for me to follow along with the text conversations sometimes, and I found myself rereading several paragraphs just so I could be clear who said what. Then, there is so much body shaming in this book. I understand it happens in weddings, when bridesmaids compare themselves to each other, or brides obsess over what the pictures will look like. But I just found it so excessive. I wrote down so many quotes about dieting and using a minimizing bra and losing those extra pounds, and I could understand if it was just one bride (as the author could play on that stereotype), but it was EVERY one (or at least one person from each respective wedding party). And Lily is not immune to this shaming, as she makes mental comments about the other bridesmaids’ appearances that are not in such a positive light. She also constantly sees herself as the victim, even when she’s caught. Even when having to go on an apology tour, she still comments on how the other girls pushed her to say those words on her blog, and how no one understood how she had been feeling throughout all this. And the last point I’ll make is the most personal take – Lily is thirty-two, and she has two younger siblings, Jake and Amy. Amy, the youngest, is eight years younger, which makes her twenty-four. Every time Lily thinks about her younger sister, or has to go shopping or on trips with Amy, she makes either a verbal or a mental comment about how much of a child Amy is, or how incompetent / how much of a screw-up she is. Even Lily’s friends make comments, and no one believes she will actually go through with her wedding, she’s just playing pretend, and she is not an actual adult because she doesn’t pay bills and still lives at home with her parents. I am Amy’s age, and am also the youngest of three children, with a ten-year age difference between me and my oldest sister. Just hearing Lily talk about her younger sister that way, and trying to imagine if my own sister had those same thoughts about me, rubbed me the wrong way.
Although I did not enjoy my reading experience, I do think other people will still pick this up and have a good time with up. I can acknowledge that this really isn’t the book for me, but can be for so many others. I just wanted to share my thoughts so people can dive into a differing perspective if they so choose. For the Love of Friends is scheduled for release on August 1st, 2021, which is a few months away, so if you’re at all interested in what the book has to offer I highly suggest preordering yourself a copy (as preorder sales greatly benefit authors) or picking one up after the release date. *Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher, Lake Union Publishing, for the e-copy, all thoughts and opinions are my own.*
Where to find For the Love of Friends:
Amazon
Goodreads
Sara Confino’s site
Thoughts About Things 